It's a shame the person who found and arrested him couldn't have simply shot him so we can just be done with this guy. What a waste of time and money. Dude is 83 and was a wanted fugitive. Is that not enough to put him away until he dies?

It's a shame the person who found and arrested him couldn't have simply shot him so we can just be done with this guy. What a waste of time and money. Dude is 83 and was a wanted fugitive. Is that not enough to put him away until he dies?

bdub77:It's a shame the person who found and arrested him couldn't have simply shot him so we can just be done with this guy. What a waste of time and money. Dude is 83 and was a wanted fugitive. Is that not enough to put him away until he dies?

do you usually complain about cops using excessive force in the police threads, or are you being consistent here?

My ex (she was white I am black) lived around the corner from "The Pony Room" Whitey's hangout in the 80's. Seeing the bar is in what was in one of the most racist sections of Boston I never went in there for a beer. Hearing the stories about the place in the news of late I am sure if I had walked in there I would have never walked out alive.

For the deepest Mob connection into the US government, watch The Mafia Connection episode of Secret War.

Lucky Luciano stopped sabotage attacks by mob-connected Americans in the NYC harbor (the burning of the Normandie was probably an accident but it got Luciano involved).

The US military managed to undo everything Mussolini had done to destroy the Mafia in Italy. Luciano had a great deal to do with that process. And things really got going after WWII. Just ask the Kennedys.

bdub77:It's a shame the person who found and arrested him couldn't have simply shot him so we can just be done with this guy. What a waste of time and money. Dude is 83 and was a wanted fugitive. Is that not enough to put him away until he dies?

For what he did? No. He (and those around him) needs to talk, and people need to listen to what an insanely twisted pile of corruption can come out of presumably good (at one time long ago) intentions. Shutting him up and burying this case is the worst thing that could happen in a democracy.

Sliding Carp:bdub77: It's a shame the person who found and arrested him couldn't have simply shot him so we can just be done with this guy. What a waste of time and money. Dude is 83 and was a wanted fugitive. Is that not enough to put him away until he dies?

For what he did? No. He (and those around him) needs to talk, and people need to listen to what an insanely twisted pile of corruption can come out of presumably good (at one time long ago) intentions. Shutting him up and burying this case is the worst thing that could happen in a democracy.

Yes because learning from our mistakes and doing the right thing the next time is totally a time honored political tradition.

TheShavingofOccam123:For the deepest Mob connection into the US government, watch The Mafia Connection episode of Secret War.

Lucky Luciano stopped sabotage attacks by mob-connected Americans in the NYC harbor (the burning of the Normandie was probably an accident but it got Luciano involved).

The US military managed to undo everything Mussolini had done to destroy the Mafia in Italy. Luciano had a great deal to do with that process. And things really got going after WWII. Just ask the Kennedys.

We faced this same problem when I worked at my school's criminal law clinic in Law School. We had a bunch of guys who were seeking new trials ater claming thier confessions had been tortured out of them by Chicago's Area Two police captain John Burges. The cases kinda blew up after one of his victims sued the city and was awarded $3 million and one of his former torturers gave a detailed confession about what had gone on at the precinct. We made the argument that the cases should be moved out of Cook County or at the very least a downstate judge should be brought in to hear them because 15 of the 17 judges sitting on the Cook County criminal law bench were former prosecutors who were the ones prosecuting the cases that resulted from Burges' "investigations" and almost HAD to know what was going on. I also didn;t help that the attorney who had defended Burge in the civil suit was the current DA.

drb9:Did not RTFA, but since when are prosecutors supposed to be impartial? I thought that was the judge's job.

The judge in this case used to work with the federal prosecutor that was covering up for Bulger. Removing the judge was actually a defense motion.

A federal appeals court has agreed to a defense request to remove the judge who was set to preside over the trial of accused gangster James ''Whitey'' Bulger.The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns must step down from Bulger's case.

Bulger's lawyers argued that Stearns should be removed from the case because he was a federal prosecutor in Boston in the 1980s. At the time, Bulger was working as an FBI informant while allegedly committing crimes, including murder.

Bulger claims he received immunity for his crimes from another federal prosecutor who worked in the same office as Stearns while Bulger was giving the FBI information on the Mafia.

rjakobi:TheShavingofOccam123: For the deepest Mob connection into the US government, watch The Mafia Connection episode of Secret War.

Lucky Luciano stopped sabotage attacks by mob-connected Americans in the NYC harbor (the burning of the Normandie was probably an accident but it got Luciano involved).

The US military managed to undo everything Mussolini had done to destroy the Mafia in Italy. Luciano had a great deal to do with that process. And things really got going after WWII. Just ask the Kennedys.

How can any court case in MA be considered legitimate when there is no regulatory body overseeing the courtroom/probation department ?Not saying Bulger is innocent but the courts can literally do anything they want in this state with out repercussions.

"Appears" my ass. The feds have been complicit in scores and scores of gangland crime over the decades. It's an arguable fact they planned, instigated and caused many murders and other untold crimes that were covered up.

fark the US Attorneys' office and the FBI for being no better than crooks. And fark you one more time. douchebags.

Taylor Mental:"Appears" my ass. The feds have been complicit in scores and scores of gangland crime over the decades. It's an arguable fact they planned, instigated and caused many murders and other untold crimes that were covered up.

fark the US Attorneys' office and the FBI for being no better than crooks. And fark you one more time. douchebags.

I'm not sure which three letter federal agency is the worst. I would say we got one agency created after the war partly thanks to J. Edgar Hoover's incompetency during WWII. It's pretty clear he was personally warned long before December 7, 1941 that the Japanese were going to use aircraft carriers to attack Pearl Harbor.

Taylor Mental:"Appears" my ass. The feds have been complicit in scores and scores of gangland crime over the decades. It's an arguable fact they planned, instigated and caused many murders and other untold crimes that were covered up.

fark the US Attorneys' office and the FBI for being no better than crooks. And fark you one more time. douchebags.

But keep in mind that it was Bulger's defense team that requested replacing the judge. I'm guessing the judge knows too much about the help Bulger was getting from John Connolly.

Magorn:CygnusDarius: Whatever happened to 'Trial by combat', can't we go back to that?.

only in the State of MD.

/yes I'm serious//technically at least-the one time it was tried it was denied, though it's a hell of a story

Looking through the internet, I found a forum and it had this quote:

Although I don't have a cite, I believe Maryland also applies the common law of England. I once read a story about a MD litigant who demanded "trial by combat" according to Maryland's version of English common law. A quick search of the internets found this commentary:There is a Judge of our local District court (who taught me Tort Lawat the local College) who is of the opinion that Trial By Combatremains a valid form of Ajudicating disputes in MD and as a lawyer heactually entered a prayer for trial by combat (it was denied, and hisclient was acquited so he never bothered the appeal). His reasoningis thus:1) A part of the Maryland Constitution defines the common law ofMaryland as the Common Law of England as of July 4, 17762) In A celebrated case in England in the 1850′s a litigant who wasdue to lose a huge case in desperation issued a challenge for trial bycombat to his opponents and showed up in front of the courthouse infull armor at the appointed time. When the other side failed to showup he demanded (and got) a victory by default. A reluctant judgeconcluded that since it never been altered by statute, trial by combatwas still a valid part of English Common Law. An emergency session ofParliment was called the next week to formally outlaw the practiceonce and for all.3) Maryland however, never followed suit, so technically Trial by combatremains "on the books" of MD Common Law...

TheShavingofOccam123:I'm not sure which three letter federal agency is the worst. I would say we got one agency created after the war partly thanks to J. Edgar Hoover's incompetency during WWII. It's pretty clear he was personally warned long before December 7, 1941 that the Japanese were going to use aircraft carriers to attack Pearl Harbor.

The Navy figured that out a decade before; they just assumed that you couldn't use torpedoes in shallow anchorages, so the torpedo defenses were a low priority when they were implemented at all. Problem was, defense of the Islands was the Army's job, as in "the entire justification for its mission," and it dropped the ball hard.

Also, if you're speaking of TRICYCLE, there's a whole lot of [citation needed] in that story. Hoover was a toad at counterintelligence. If Germany had been able to come up with another Franz von Papen, Hoover would have been lost.

Instead, he got the chance to build his own double-cross network with MI5's help and blew it because he considered Popov immoral. His other big coup of WWII was having one of the U-boat saboteurs basically hand him the entire operation on a plate. Even then, they didn't believe the guy until he dumped the mission fund onto the table.

CygnusDarius:Magorn: CygnusDarius: Whatever happened to 'Trial by combat', can't we go back to that?.

only in the State of MD.

/yes I'm serious//technically at least-the one time it was tried it was denied, though it's a hell of a story

Looking through the internet, I found a forum and it had this quote:

Although I don't have a cite, I believe Maryland also applies the common law of England. I once read a story about a MD litigant who demanded "trial by combat" according to Maryland's version of English common law. A quick search of the internets found this commentary:There is a Judge of our local District court (who taught me Tort Lawat the local College) who is of the opinion that Trial By Combatremains a valid form of Ajudicating disputes in MD and as a lawyer heactually entered a prayer for trial by combat (it was denied, and hisclient was acquited so he never bothered the appeal). His reasoningis thus:1) A part of the Maryland Constitution defines the common law ofMaryland as the Common Law of England as of July 4, 17762) In A celebrated case in England in the 1850′s a litigant who wasdue to lose a huge case in desperation issued a challenge for trial bycombat to his opponents and showed up in front of the courthouse infull armor at the appointed time. When the other side failed to showup he demanded (and got) a victory by default. A reluctant judgeconcluded that since it never been altered by statute, trial by combatwas still a valid part of English Common Law. An emergency session ofParliment was called the next week to formally outlaw the practiceonce and for all.3) Maryland however, never followed suit, so technically Trial by combatremains "on the books" of MD Common Law...

LibertyHiller:TheShavingofOccam123: I'm not sure which three letter federal agency is the worst. I would say we got one agency created after the war partly thanks to J. Edgar Hoover's incompetency during WWII. It's pretty clear he was personally warned long before December 7, 1941 that the Japanese were going to use aircraft carriers to attack Pearl Harbor.

The Navy figured that out a decade before; they just assumed that you couldn't use torpedoes in shallow anchorages, so the torpedo defenses were a low priority when they were implemented at all. Problem was, defense of the Islands was the Army's job, as in "the entire justification for its mission," and it dropped the ball hard.

Also, if you're speaking of TRICYCLE, there's a whole lot of [citation needed] in that story. Hoover was a toad at counterintelligence. If Germany had been able to come up with another Franz von Papen, Hoover would have been lost.

Instead, he got the chance to build his own double-cross network with MI5's help and blew it because he considered Popov immoral. His other big coup of WWII was having one of the U-boat saboteurs basically hand him the entire operation on a plate. Even then, they didn't believe the guy until he dumped the mission fund onto the table.

I was speaking of Tricycle. And I think anything he says--or any "master spy" says--has to be looked at askance. It's their job to lie in the first place.

CygnusDarius:Magorn: CygnusDarius: Whatever happened to 'Trial by combat', can't we go back to that?.

only in the State of MD.

/yes I'm serious//technically at least-the one time it was tried it was denied, though it's a hell of a story

Looking through the internet, I found a forum and it had this quote:

Although I don't have a cite, I believe Maryland also applies the common law of England. I once read a story about a MD litigant who demanded "trial by combat" according to Maryland's version of English common law. A quick search of the internets found this commentary:There is a Judge of our local District court (who taught me Tort Lawat the local College) who is of the opinion that Trial By Combatremains a valid form of Ajudicating disputes in MD and as a lawyer heactually entered a prayer for trial by combat (it was denied, and hisclient was acquited so he never bothered the appeal). His reasoningis thus:1) A part of the Maryland Constitution defines the common law ofMaryland as the Common Law of England as of July 4, 17762) In A celebrated case in England in the 1850′s a litigant who wasdue to lose a huge case in desperation issued a challenge for trial bycombat to his opponents and showed up in front of the courthouse infull armor at the appointed time. When the other side failed to showup he demanded (and got) a victory by default. A reluctant judgeconcluded that since it never been altered by statute, trial by combatwas still a valid part of English Common Law. An emergency session ofParliment was called the next week to formally outlaw the practiceonce and for all.3) Maryland however, never followed suit, so technically Trial by combatremains "on the books" of MD Common Law...

Yep that's exactly it, though as a caveat you shouldn't believe everything you read on the Internets, someone of dubious reliability (like say ME) might have written that a VERY long time ago. Just for completeness I've learned the following additional facts about this story by talking later to the PD who actually did it:

The PD who enetered the trial by combat plea was a member of a local medieval re-creation society (I forget now if it was the Local group called Markland, or the actual SCA) and not merely a member but "Prince Igor the Bear, Lord by Right of Arms" meaning he was the local "knightly combat" champion (and a BIG guy). The case involved a guy charged with "mutual affray"-essentially getting into a bar brawl with another guy, so the PD was entereing the "trial by combat" motion as a mock protest that the DA was actually pressing the charges cause neither was seriously hurt and suggested the two men involved be allowed to simply finish what they started.

Once the DA recieved notice of his motion, and realized he was serious, he sent the tiniest, most petite female ADA he had down to the courtroom to represent the state in the hopes that "Igor" would be too chivalrous to enter the motion when he saw his potential opponent (He did anyway, knowing it was going to be most likely denied)

Magorn:Yep that's exactly it, though as a caveat you shouldn't believe everything you read on the Internets, someone of dubious reliability (like say ME) might have written that a VERY long time ago. Just for completeness I've learned the following additional facts about this story by talking later to the PD who actually did it:The PD who enetered the trial by combat plea was a member of a local medieval re-creation society (I forget now if it was the Local group called Markland, or the actual SCA) and not merely a member but "Prince Igor the Bear, Lord by Right of Arms" meaning he was the local "knightly combat" champion (and a BIG guy). The case involved a guy charged with "mutual affray"-essentially getting into a bar brawl with another guy, so the PD was entereing the "trial by combat" motion as a mock protest that the DA was actually pressing the charges cause neither was seriously hurt and suggested the two men involved be allowed to simply finish what they started.Once the DA recieved notice of his motion, and realized he was serious, he sent the tiniest, most petite female ADA he had down to the courtroom to represent the state in the hopes that "Igor" would be too chivalrous to enter the motion when he saw his potential opponent (He did anyway, knowing it was going to be most likely denied).

So, under this pretence, one could, say, file a lawsuit against a big company (say, my favorite enemy, the Koch Brothers), and potentially use the 'Trial by combat' rule.

Most likely it would not pass, but it scares me that they actually go for it, and send a mercenary as their 'champion'.

TheRealSecurb:My ex (she was white I am black) lived around the corner from "The Pony Room" Whitey's hangout in the 80's. Seeing the bar is in what was in one of the most racist sections of Boston I never went in there for a beer. Hearing the stories about the place in the news of late I am sure if I had walked in there I would have never walked out alive.

I dunno about that. A place called "The Pony Room" sure sounds like its main branch is on Commercial Street in Ptown.